Black Night
by PrincessBellePrinceAdam
Summary: [Operation Overdrive] Rose is having trouble sleeping through the night.  Luckily for her...a certain red ranger is always at her side. Rock [MackxRose] threeshot.
1. Chapter 1

**Black Night**

She woke up to his voice and a gentle tapping on her shoulder. "Rose. Rose, wake up. It's OK. It's OK." He was quiet, and his voice was ringing with concern. Concern for her. Her breathing calmed and the handsome face of the red ranger swam into focus. He looked relieved to see this. "Oh Rose," Mack murmured. He was kneeling on the plush pink carpet next to her bed, dressed in a baggy red T-shirt and black sweats. "Another nightmare?" Mack questioned. His voice was sympathetic.

Rose nodded. She breathed in deeply and then exhaled. "Yeah. That's the third one this week. I'm sorry I woke you up again, Mack. Go back to bed. I'll try not to bother you again."

Mack sighed and got up off the floor. "No Rose. Don't be stupid. You're not bothering me, you're worrying me. The nightmares are getting more and more frequent, aren't they?" Rose bobbed her head again as Mack seated himself next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and eased them both back against Rose's piles of pink pillows. "Oh sweetheart. You're really starting to scare me, you know that?"

The pink ranger hid her face in his chest. "I'm sorry," she mumbled. "I'm so sorry. You have enough responsibility without having to worry about me. I'll keep it down. I promise."

"Rose, that's not what's worrying me. What's worrying me is that you won't talk to anyone about it but me. I want you to talk to my dad. He'll figure out what's causing the dreams and find some kind of solution."

"I don't need to worry everyone, Mack. We're all stressed enough without my apparent inability to sleep through the night. I don't want to cause another problem on top of everything else going on."

"What if it hadn't been me that woke up first? Do you think I enjoy waking up to your screams? Please, Rose. Please. For your own good."

He sounded so concerned for her wellbeing. Rose finally muttered, "OK, I'll let him know. First thing tomorrow."

"That's my girl. Go to sleep. I'll see you tomorrow." He pecked the top of her head and let go of her, standing and fixing the blankets over his petite pink teammate.

"Good night, Mack."

"Good night, Rose."


	2. Chapter 2

**Black Night**

Mack looked just as tired as she felt, Rose noticed when she entered the dining room the next morning. He was frowning and stirring cream into a coffee mug, his mind clearly not on the noisy conversation the other four rangers were having. "Hi," she greeted him softly. She sat in the seat next to his, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"

"I couldn't sleep last night after…well, you know what happened." He looked miserable, and Rose felt guilt strike at her. It showed on her face because Mack smiled slightly. "It's not your fault, Rose. Don't worry about it. Just…talk to my dad like you said you would and get everything sorted out."

"I will," Rose replied, moving her hand from Mack's shoulder. She felt terrible for burdening Mack the way she was. "I'll go right after breakfast."

"Good." Mack thought for a moment. "If nothing comes up, I was planning on going to the bookstore later. You want to come?"

"Sure," Rose answered with a faint grin. She smiled dreamily for a moment before the others started laughing. "What's so funny?" demanded the pink ranger, her grin fading immediately.

"Oh nothing…Mrs. Hartford," Will teased. He and Ronny exchanged knowing glances. Even Tyzonn, new to Earth's culture, cracked a grin at the black ranger's words. Mack's face flushed an adorably embarrassed bright pink. Rose glared.

"You know what you are, Will?" she started to ask, but the six rangers were interrupted by Spencer's appearance.

"Master Hartford requests that the six of you report to the command center at once," he stated. "He believes he has found the next piece of the puzzle to the Corona Aurora."

"Excellent," Dax announced, jumping up. The yellow, black and Mercury rangers followed suit, racing towards the elevator.

"He wants all six rangers," Spencer prompted. Mack jumped.

"Sorry Spence. C'mon Rose." He put his hand on the small of Rose's back and she got up, almost robotically. Spencer frowned after them. Those two were definitely not themselves today.

All through the meeting between the Overdrive rangers and Andrew Hartford, Rose's mind wandered to how she was going to bring up the subject of her recurring nightmares. It was only when the rest of the team, save for Mack, filed out again that Rose snapped back to reality.

"Go on," Mack said gently, nudging her. "I'm right here." The pink ranger nodded and took a deep breath.

"I hope the two of you didn't do something stupid," Andrew mumbled. Mack frowned.

"I've been having nightmares, Mr. Hartford," Rose announced, looking at her shoes. "Almost every night. Mack is the only other person who knows." Here Mack put his arm around her shoulders. Andrew looked concerned.

"I see. Well, is it the same dream?" Rose nodded. "We'll see if we can find the solution. Come back when you get read to go to sleep tonight and I'll analyze your brain wave activity. It could just be stress, or it could be something way more serious."

"Thank you, Mr. Hartford." Mack nodded his agreement, his arm still wound tight around his pink ranger. He turned the both of them around and together they headed upstairs.

They went to the bookstore, both uncharacteristically silent. Rose was exhausted from her restless night, and the screams that had woken Mack kept echoing in his mind, proving that he was not to sleep either.

"So hopefully by tomorrow we'll have this all figured out and we can finally get some rest," Rose murmured, mostly for conversation. A very full dark green bag that bulged with her purchases sat at her feet. She couldn't wait to ream them.

"Yeah," Mack concurred, but he sounded distracted. And then silence.

Much later, Rose went down to the command center. Andrew Hartford was waiting for her. He gestured vaguely to what looked like a hospital bed and Rose sat herself down on it. "I have a sensor that's going to monitor your brain activity while you sleep. Whatever's going on, what's causing you to have nightmares, we'll know by tomorrow morning."

Rose bobbed her head. "Sounds good," she said, taking the little sensor. And she stretched herself out, resting her head on the squashy white pillow. She fell asleep almost instantly, and stayed that way for a few hours until…

"MACK!!!!!"


	3. Chapter 3

Before Mr. Hartford had even had enough time to contact Mack, the red ranger came sliding down one of the poles, his usual grin nowhere to be seen. "Oh God," he muttered, rushing to Rose's side. "Rose. Rose, stop. It's OK. I'm here now." Mack brushed her bangs away from her eyes gently, whispering.

"How did you know to be here?" asked Andrew once Rose had stopped screaming and was being cradled in Mack's arms as if she might break. He could see how much his son loved the pink ranger just by glancing at the entwined couple.

"I'm not sure. I woke up and knew to go to her." Mack looked down at Rose sadly, one hand stroking her dark hair soothingly. Andrew nodded. "Any reason for her nightmares yet, Dad? I'm really worried about her."

"I don't know what's causing it. But another thought has occurred to me, Mack. She could be seeing the future, couldn't she? I have to look into it some more. It could just be stress from her ranger duties as well. The fact that it's recurring could mean a lot of things."

"I hope it's not the future," Mack mumbled. "I'm not sure what Rose's nightmare is about exactly but I'm pretty sure it has something to do with a battle. I just haven't asked yet because she's upset enough as it is." Andrew saw his son's arms tighten around the dozing Rose.

"When are you going to tell her?" asked the elder Hartford quietly.

"Tell her what?"

"That you love her," replied Andrew. "Everyone sees it." Mack shook his head.

"Now isn't the best time, Dad." He let go of Rose, laying her down. He brought a chair over to the bed and sat down, reaching for Rose's hand. The red ranger held onto her firmly, wordlessly saying he was not about to leave her.

"All right then." Andrew resumed his post at one of the base's computers, watching the green lines wave over the screen.

It was well past three a.m. when Rose woke up from her dream again, though she managed not to scream this time. She sat bolt upright, taking in the command center, seeing a sleeping Mr. Hartford slumped over with his forehead on the computer screen. Someone was holding her hand, she could feel it. The pink ranger looked over to see Mack, his right hand gripping her left, his head resting near her pillow.

He hadn't left her.

It was always so hard when he left her room in the middle of the night. But he was still here, he was still here for her.

She pulled her hand away from his, lying down again. Rose propped herself up on her elbow, watching her red ranger sleep. Suddenly Rose _needed_ to be closer to him, and before she really knew what she was doing she rearranged herself again. She nestled her head in the crook of his neck, hugging him to her as tightly as she could. "Oh Mack," she whispered, and then tears spilled from her eyes.

Mack was awake immediately. "Rose?" The pink ranger pulled away from him, still crying. "Did you have your dream again?" She nodded, closing her eyes.

He abandoned his chair, climbing onto the uncomfortable hospital bed with her. Instinctively Rose burrowed closer to him. He was lying flat on his back, Rose on top of him. The responsible conservative Rose was not to be found in this terrified, exhausted version of his beloved pink ranger. She cried into his chest unashamed, her arms wound around his neck. Finally she spoke in a very shaky voice, pulling her face away so she could look at him.

"Listen to me Mack, and listen good. In the event that some insane villain tries to kill me, you are not to sacrifice your life in exchange for mine. Do you understand me? I'm just not worth it."

"Isn't that up to me to decide?" Mack asked softly. He lifted his hand to her face, wiping her tears away with his thumb. "And anyway, Rose, that's not going to happen. I won't let it."

Rose just shook her head. Then she thought about something that had been in the back of her mind since the day she'd met him, and was made even more evident by the way he was holding her and the way he was looking at her. "We're not just friends, are we, Mack? There's something more?"

"God I hope so," murmured Mack without skipping a beat. Rose slid off of him, now blissfully happy. She kept her head on his chest, closing her eyes once more.

It didn't matter if they ever found out the cause of the horrible dreams that had plagued her mind for weeks. As long as she and Mack were together, that was all that mattered.

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